Why Measure Volume and Sentiment of Social Media Brand Mentions?

If you are doing any form of social media monitoring you are probably measuring volume and sentiment. You might see it grow week over week or month over month. You're certain this is a good thing, but maybe you're wondering why, or what you can do with the knowledge of this improvement. Perhaps you're seeing a decline and want to know what to do with this information as well.

Why should I care about brand volume and sentiment?

It can be an indication of the health of your brand
A growth or decline in volume and sentiment can be an early indicator of a change in overall brand health. Sudden positive increases can indicate brand growth and awareness. A decline can alert you to some brand issues and allow you to tackle them before they grow too big.

It can help you set realistic goals
When it comes to setting engagement goals to increase your volume and sentiment, setting a benchmark is important. As you watch how your volume and sentiment change from week-to-week and month-to-month, you can set realistic and valuable goals in how you plan to increase them over time.

It can help increase brand awareness
When people do a search online for problems that your product or service solves, it's important that you're showing up in the results. An increase in volume, if it is positive and on topic, can mean you're showing up more often when people are searching.

What do I do with this knowledge?

Find out what's working and do more of it
Have a look at why and where you're being mentioned. Review what people are saying they like about your product or service, and continue to improve and focus in that area. Engage in places where there is conversation happening already. Support those who mention you favorably -- they may someday (or already) be a community of advocates for your brand.

Listen for opportunities
Consider what types of problems your product or service solves. Are people talking about you in all areas your brand touches? If there are opportunities where you aren't currently being mentioned find ways to dive into those conversations and bring awareness.

Fix what's broken
Take the time to fix the issues that people are sharing about your brand. It could be a matter of educating people on how to use something properly or it could mean making major adjustments to your product. If there's one person complaining then reach out to help, if it's a lot of people complaining about the same thing then you'll know that you need to make a change.